NZME CFO Michael Moran resigns for 'personal reasons'

March 16 (BusinessDesk) - NZME chief
financial officer Michael Moran has resigned from the
newspaper publisher and radio station operator for "personal
reasons" after a year in the role.

Moran joined the
Auckland-based company in June 2016 as interim CFO before
being permanently appointed in January last year, taking on
responsibility for NZME's financial and technology
operations. Prior to that, he'd been a partner at accounting
firm Deloitte. NZME has started looking for a replacement,
but chief strategy officer Sarah Judkins will act as CFO in
the interim. Investor relations manager Paddy Walker
couldn't immediately say when Moran's departure was
effective.

"Mike has played a critical role in
transforming the way the business operates, extracting
synergies from business integration and driving various
elements of the growth strategy, including progressing the
proposed merger with Fairfax NZ," chief executive Michael
Boggs said in a statement.

NZME's proposed merger with
rival Stuff, the local subsidiary of ASX-listed Fairfax
Media Group, was blocked by the Commerce Commission over
fears it would give the merged entity too much influence to
the detriment of the wider public and offsetting tangible
economic gains to be had. The High Court upheld that
decision, and while both media companies are taking that
ruling to the Court of Appeal, the terms of the tie-up will
be renegotiated if successful.

Last November, First NZ
Capital analyst Arie Dekker wrote in a note to clients that
NZME shouldn't pay Fairfax $55 million if the appellate
courts cleared the way for the merger, saying the Stuff
portfolio's lack of diversity was more challenging than
NZME's, which includes radio assets.

Stuff has already
embarked on scaling back its domestic newspaper operations,
yesterday announcing it will close four community papers and
one magazine. Another 23 publications it plans to exit have
attracted interest from potential buyers.

Meantime, NZME
has signalled plans to introduce subscription-access for
premium content on its website this year. Former owner APN
News & Media toyed with introducing a paywall for the
flagship New Zealand Herald website in 2015 but later backed
away from the plan.

NZME shares last traded at 82 cents
and have dropped 6.8 percent so far this year.

Contact BusinessDesk

“It is our intention that the clarity that will come from the outcome of these proceedings will enable the Crown to work with Southern Response to provide a soundly based proactive solution to those people that are affected.” More>>

Classifying on-demand video content will be made mandatory to bring it in line with other media and provide better guidance and protections to families and young people, says Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin. More>>

Inland Revenue and the Accident Compensation Corporation are calling ‘time’ on cheques. From March next year, IR and ACC will no longer accept payments by cheque from customers who are able to use alternative payment options. More>>

ALSO:

Broader participation by New Zealanders, greater access to growth capital for New Zealand enterprises, and more choices for investors drive the recommendations in the Capital Markets 2029 report released today. More>>

Wallabies could spread over a third of New Zealand within the next 50 years, unless control is increased dramatically, says Forest & Bird central North Island regional manager Rebecca Stirnemann. More>>